


Beaches

by DarthTella



Category: Doctor Who (2005)
Genre: Beaches, F/M, Fluff and Angst, Romance, Swimming, Tumblr Prompt
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-31
Updated: 2019-01-31
Packaged: 2019-10-19 23:22:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,306
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17611010
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/DarthTella/pseuds/DarthTella
Summary: Rose Tyler always hated the beach.  Could the Doctor finally change her mind?





	Beaches

Rose hated the beach. 

When she was very little she went for a trip to the beach, and remembered crying when a seagull swooped at her causing her to drop her ninety-nine in the sand. A kind stranger who was oddly dressed in a silvery overcoat despite the hot July weather bought her a new one. Rose remembered how the woman smiled at her when she said she liked her earring - a sparkly cuff with stars and a stud that had a had a gold hand holding a silver one connected by a delicate chain. 

Despite all that, she got a horrible sunburn that day and it took forever for her mum to wash all that sand out of her hair and she was still bitter over the fact Mickey wouldn’t stop kicking over her sandcastles!

Rose absolutely refused to go to the beach after that.

Then she grew up. But just when she thought her life would be nothing more than dull and ordinary she met the most extraordinary man: the Doctor. When she mentioned to him her distaste for beaches, he laughed and said: “That’s cos you’ve only seen an boring old Earth one.” Then with a twinkle in his blue eyes, took her to see the most beautiful beaches she’d ever imagined, and she fell in love with him more and more.

Then the unthinkable happened, and Rose found herself in another universe separated from the Doctor. He had found the tiniest of cracks in the skin of the universe to send a projection of himself so he could see her one last time. But that tiny crack just had to open on the coldest and most desolate beach she’d ever been to. And didn’t his transmission just have to end when she was certain he was going to say he loved her too.

After that, Rose had become a different person. She became harder, more driven. The Doctor told her it was impossible to see him again. But she was determined to prove him wrong. And she did, but only to be left on the same beach he had left her on before.

This time was different. This time the Doctor was by her side. A different Doctor, but still the same man. It did her head in thinking about it sometimes, but she accepted him all the same. He was different in the fact that he wasn’t afraid to tell her how he felt about her and didn’t hold himself back when she kissed him.

Rose figured that should help her get over her hatred of beaches, as she now had a happy memory attached to one. But somehow she just couldn’t shake it. That frustration was further impacted as she watched the now part human Doctor splashing in the surf as he playfully chased after her little brother. Given all that’s happened to them, shouldn’t he hate beaches too? She stubbornly stayed under the over-sized beach umbrella that shielded her from the sun and just focused on the novel she brought with her.

She was just about to turn the page when the book was suddenly snatched out of her hand. The sun dazzled her eyes momentarily as she tried to focus on the tall figure now standing in her light. Rose jumped to her feet and tried to grab her book back, but the Doctor was faster and considerably taller. He dangled it just out of her reach.

“Give it back!” She snapped at him, but then he stood on his tiptoes with an impish grin on his face.

“No.” Was his simple answer. “You, Rose Tyler, have been a stick in the mud ever since we got here.”

“So what? Give it back!” she jumped to try and reach her book, but he took a quick step back still keeping it out of her reach.

“Only if you agree to take a swim with me.” Rose crossed her arms over her chest, and shook her head. The Doctor rolled his eyes, then before she could even react to what was happening, he tossed her book over to her blanket, scooped her up in his arms and started running towards the water.

“Put me down!” She screamed at him, beating her fists on his chest. That only caused him to run faster, and when the water reached his hips, he tossed her in. Rose resurfaced sputtering and coughing. She had a hard time glaring at him through the wet hair plastered on her face.

“What the hell’s wrong with you!?!” She spat.

“Thought a little cold water would clear your head!” He retorted. Then his shoulders sagged. “Look, I’m sorry. But… I just wanted this to be a pleasant holiday. I don’t think I ever really had a family vacation before. Well... I took Susan to a few nice places but I was too crotchety back then to allow myself to have any fun. But you’ve been giving me nothing but the cold shoulder all day.”

“Why’d you have to go an’ suggest we go to the bloody beach for?” The Doctor opened his mouth to say something but Rose got there first, “Of course Mum and Pete would agree for Tony’s sake, an’ I’d never ever hear the end of it from Mum if I ended up disappointing him. Besides, you of all people should know how I feel about this place!”

The Doctor couldn’t meet her eye. When he spoke, Rose almost had to strain to hear him over the sound of the waves around them.

“One of the first memories I have in this body is standing on a beach and telling you how much I love you. We shared our first proper kiss there. From that moment on, I vowed to myself to tell you how much you mean to me every single day. You accepted who I was on that beach, and I just thought…” He trailed off. He reached for her hands, and she let him take them. She looked up at his face, idly noting how prominent his freckles were against the slight tan he got from being out in the sun all afternoon. He finally seemed to gather up the courage to look her in the eye, and Rose felt she could drown within their chocolate depths. He took a step closer to her, then another when she didn’t retreat and pulled her into a tight hug.

“We can’t change the past, but I’d love to have a happy future with you. If you want.” Rose felt him shrug his shoulder and her mind instantly brought her back to the moment he first gave her that choice. She pushed slightly against his bare chest - again noting how much less reserved and more comfortable he was letting himself be now - and caught his eye again.

“I’d like that.” She smiled up at him for the first time that day. He smiled back and Rose loved the way it crinkled the corners of his eyes. He leaned down and kissed her softly.

“The water is quite nice.” She admitted when they parted making no move to leave his embrace.

“It is.” The Doctor agreed. “Fancy a swim then?” Rose didn’t get the chance to answer before he suddenly pulled away from her, tapped her playfully on the shoulder shouting “You’re it!” before diving in the water and quickly swimming away. Rose stood there dumbly for a moment before her competitive nature kicked in and she swam after him, laughing the entire way.

Rose did get a sunburn that day, and got a considerable amount of sand in her hair, but she found it didn’t bother her so much this time. She now had the Doctor to tend to her needs. 

Besides, he let her get all the sand out of his hair too.


End file.
